Is Life a Curse? Suicidal Tendencies In Youth

It started when I was in my final year of law school. One morning, all of us woke up to the startling news of a student from my college who had committed suicide. He was an A-student and an all rounder in every field. Our law school is extremely stringent in terms of student attendance, and they were adamant about detaining him. After repeated requests and letters addressed to the authorities and receiving no reply, he resorted to the last and grave solution that occurred to him: committing suicide. He lost his life and the “Who is responsible” question became  immaterial for me at that juncture. I was more bothered about the fact that it was a devastating incident that not only ripped apart the family in a moment, but raised a big question. Was the situation so severe that he developed the courage to take this step? This was one instance I felt closely associated to, but there are numerous others. I was reading the other day about a 12 year old boy who committed suicide because he was harassed by his teacher. Suicides committed due to such reasons have a usual trend of students leaving notes behind expressing things like, “I quit,” “I wish the teacher had let me sit for the exams,” “ I wish I was a good student and son/daughter.”

When I think about such notions, I agree that students and teachers must have an approachable relationship and that the teachers must be aware of repercussions of their acts on the psychology of students. In India, education and teachers (Gurus as they were called in olden times), have always had paramount respect. Students were hit ruthlessly as a measure of discipline, and it was easily accepted. With changing times, the same acceptance cannot be expected out of our generation, and it is now prohibited. The stress related to education has changed tremendously and we need to adapt accordingly. If a child in school or college shows unusual behavior, parents or friends closest to him must be involved in his life and ensure the child’s well being. We do not have a focus on mental health in our society. Mental health also includes depression, anxiety and frustration that an individual faces in addition to other medical conditions that exist. The tendency of committing suicide as soon as an adverse situation arises should not be an option. I believe that there is always an option even when we think there is none.

How would the tendency to put our precious life to halt possibly enter our minds? When I feel the situation is out of control and I cannot figure out a way to get out of it, I start building up excessive pressure and, due to my over thinking, reach a point where ending everything seems to be the only solution. At this juncture my conscience must shout out aloud, am I a coward? Can I not face bravely the challenges that life is throwing at me? Am I so selfish that only because I have lost the hope to live further, I am ready to create a void in the lives of those who value my life more than I do?

Suicidal tendencies in today’s youth has already been a common phenomenon. I recently heard about the “Blue Whale Challenge,” a game developed by a Russian that has had widespread effects on teenagers all over the world and is still continuing. The game has around 50 challenges involving tasks of self mutilation, the last task being committing suicide. As much as Social Media is connecting us, it is negatively affecting us in such grotesque ways. Out of peer pressure and the social media effect, teenagers are getting into the trap of the game. On reading about it, I learned  that the curator thought he was eliminating unwanted souls from the face of earth with such a game.

After reading about such psychologically impaired people, I was delighted to know about the ‘ Pink Whale Challenge’ started in various countries to combat depression and helping one in valuing their life.

I strongly feel that the power to overcome the hurdles and be on the right path lies within us, but sometimes we need that push to restart the engine of life. All of us face breakdowns in our lives and extreme actions hitting our minds at some point in time is not a crime. But it is all about gathering back the required confidence of coming back to life and living each day like there is no tomorrow. Let us pledge to be warriors of our lives instead of being at war with ourselves.